Eastern Promises (2007)

A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

Steven Knight (screenplay) (as Steve Knight)

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 28 wins & 71 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josef Altin	...	Ekrem
Mina E. Mina	...	Azim
Aleksandar Mikic	...	Soyka (as Aleksander Mikic)
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse	...	Tatiana (as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
Lalita Ahmed	...	Customer
Badi Uzzaman	...	Chemist
Naomi Watts	...	Anna
Doña Croll	...	Nurse (as Dona Croll)
Raza Jaffrey	...	Doctor Aziz
Sinéad Cusack	...	Helen (as Sinead Cusack)
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Stepan
Tatiana Maslany	...	Tatiana (voice)
Viggo Mortensen	...	Nikolai
Vincent Cassel	...	Kirill
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Semyon

Storyline

In London, the Russian pregnant teenager Tatiana arrives bleeding in a hospital, and the doctors save her baby only. The Russian descendant midwife Anna Khitrova finds Tatiana's diary written in Russian language in her belongings and decided to find her family to deliver the baby, she brings the diary home and ask her uncle Stepan to translate the document. Stepan refuses, but Anna finds a card of a restaurant owned by the Russian Semyon inside the diary and she visits the old man trying to find a lead to contact Tatiana's family. When she mentions the existence of the diary, Semyon immediately offers to translate the document. However, Stepan translates part of the diary and Anna discovers that Semyon and his sick son Kirill had raped Tatiana when she was fourteen years old and forced her to work as prostitute in a brothel of their own. Further, Semyon is the dangerous boss of the Russian mafia "Vory v Zakone", jeopardizing the safety of Anna and her family. Meanwhile, Semyon's ...

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Plot Keywords:

russian | sex scene | pubic hair | nudity | ukrainian | 

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Taglines:

Every sin leaves a mark.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK Canada USA

Language:

English Russian Turkish Ukrainian Urdu

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eastern Promises

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$547,092, 16 September 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$17,114,882, 26 October 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kudos Film and Television, BBC Films, Serendipity Point Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nikolai sports a bicep tattoo of a crow, which is a symbol of Viggo Mortensen's favourite soccer team, San Lorenzo de Almagro. Sometime after filming, Mortensen got this as a real tattoo. It's visible in his sleeveless scenes in Captain Fantastic (2016).

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Goofs

In the scene where Nikolai is returning the bike to Anna at one point he pulls out a black cloth and wipes off one of the handlebars. A few seconds later however the cloth has vanished.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Azim: He says "Christmas." So I say to him,
[in Turkish]
Azim: "Should we go shopping?"
[English]
Azim: The kid's 16. He says, "But uncle, it's Christmas."

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Connections

Referenced in The Spoony Experiment: The King of Fighters (2011)

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Soundtracks

Slavery and Suffering
Traditional Revolutionary Song
Arranged by Dimitri Oleg Yachinov
Performed by The Red Army Choir under the direction of B. Alexandrov
Courtesy of Silva Screen Records Ltd.
Under license from FGL Productions

User Reviews

Viggo Mortensen Breaks New Ground

A terrific, tight, violent, homo erotic thriller with a soul and a heart and if that wasn't enough, Viggo Mortensen! He is an astonishing actor, he's always been. But now his Russian "I'm just a driver" goes further than most actors would have dared. He is magnetic. Cronenberg designs two lives again for him but this time the universe where he lives is made of monsters with an accent. The splendid Armin Mueller-Stahl's bonhomie doesn't fools us for a moment. "A diary?" That's enough for us to know and to fear. Vincent Cassel is also terrific and his down, tactile moments with Viggo Mortensen, have an erotic undercurrent that is impossible to ignore. Naomi Watts brings the heart to the proceedings without ever being sentimental. David Cronenberg, I feel, is entering a spectacular new face to his already remarkable career.